SOSCA - Save Our Soca Caribbean Awareness #JUSTICEFORSOS

SOSCA - seeking to uplift, unify, and generate love, harmony, and awareness within the Caribbean community.

#JUSTICEFORSOS is a movement for our loyal patrons and anyone who supports SOS Fest Inc. who come out to Carnival Kingdom during Carnival weekend and all SOS Fest Inc. events.

If you want to be apart of this movement, sign the petition. Collectively, we can take over social media and continue spreading awareness about the lack of cultural diversity in Vaughan and the unjust, unreasonable and blatant discrimination that left SOS Fest Inc and the Caribbean/African community distraught. Let your voices be heard. With your continued support, marginalized communities, will inadvertently negate any future prospects from experiencing similar circumstances.

On Saturday evening just before 7PM, event organizers were notified via text message that SOS Carnival Kingdom, had been cancelled. The City of Vaughan revoked permits for no apparent reasons.

Apparently, the decision was made in the morning but the City Of Vaughan staff decided to not notify the SOS team until right before the doors opened. This was executed with a “gang-like mentality” and has costed the organizers of SOS Fest Inc their careers and entire life's work essentially.

Thousands were expected to start flowing in to watch the performances of many Soca artists who flew in from Trinidad and around the world.

Many locals joined by tourists travelled in for the biggest event this weekend. Visitors travelled to Toronto and the Greater Toronto Area for the parade and other events indeed, but the staple event was Carnival Kingdom. People have gone home and commented they will NEVER come back. That hurts tourism and our city. These patrons stayed in hotels in Vaughan, ate in Vaughan, shopped in Vaughan then got the boot on their way to the venue.

In the last several years Carnival Kingdom had no issues with other venues or cities. This was the first time Carnival Kingdom chose a venue in Vaughan. It should be noted that the event organizers had a successful night before at their event “Rejouvertnate”. York Region Police enforcement officers confirmed multiple times with both event organizers and patrons attending the concert that Rejouvertnate had gone smoothly with zero incidents.

The City’s decision to cancel this event was unfair and we believe discriminatory to the Caribbean culture. The location of the venue was in an industrial location about 7 KM away from residential areas meaning the noise level would have been more than respected according to the bylaw. SOS Fest Inc. had a sound company where they tested the decibel level details of the noise bylaw. The noise is no different than events held down the street however, in the case of a Caribana event it is viewed as violation.

Bylaw enforcement said they broke conditions of their permit the night before but gave no paperwork or proof. It was all done by a simple text message from an unrecognized number. Until this day, there is no paperwork. When Bylaw enforcement finally arrived on site, they stated, this decision was made by a team of people including city council and the mayor. Both of whom have publicly stated after the fact that they were not involved in any such decision. Lies and deceit against our culture and community will not be tolerated.

The SOS Team has begun the process of refunding ALL ticket buyers after paying for the entire event up front and before they were notified to shut down.

The City Of Vaughan should be held liable for the losses incurred by the event organizers from SOS Fest Inc. The SOS team is actively fighting for the food vendors, the sponsors, the staff, the bands, the community and so much more. We need justice for SOS Fest Inc and the entire Caribbean/African community!